So I'm having a hell of a time trying to organize a mess of disparate, sometimes contradictory ideas into a cohesive setting. In a nutshell, it's Scion meets Lovecraft, an intentional subversion of the Indo-European myth of the Titanomachy. My major influences are (obviously) Lovecraftian horror and the Cthullu Mythos, a lot of Indo-European mythology, "children of the gods" stories like Percy Jackson and the Scion roleplaying game, the fan-made Leviathan: the Tempest, and horror manga like Parasyte, 7 Billion Needles, and Elfen Lied.
Players take on the role of the children, or perhaps the spawn, of the Old Gods. These are not the Old Gods of Lovecraft: similar, but not identical. They were Titans, Tiamat, Behemoth and Leviathan, god-monsters of enormous power and terrifying in their inhumanity. The Old Gods existed within our material reality for eons, but with the rise of humanity and the creation of the DIVINITY-MACHINE, they were forced beyond the boundaries of our world and into the Spaces Beyond Space. In that limbo, dead but not dying, they can only manifest the slimmest fragments of their influence. Where it touches humanity, this influence taints the blood, warps DNA, imbues souls with a tiny Shard of the Old God's being. The ones who carry this Shard within them are called the godspawn, and they have ichor flowing through their veins. When they reach puberty, the godspawn undergo a Metamorphosis: a horrifying, dramatic change as the unreality inside of them metastasizes and they hear the whispering roar of an Old God inside their head for the first, but never the last, time. Metamorphosis also grants them powers, not the least of which is the ability to transform their physical bodies into something resembling the Old God who sired them. It goes without saying that such powers are always frightening in appearance.
The DIVINITY-MACHINE is the gestalt coalescence of humanity's residual self-image and unconscious desire for omnipotent, omniscient godhead before which to prostrate itself. IT was the one who made war upon the Old Gods and excised them from reality, for the human mind could not grasp the Old Gods' infinitude and so they rejected their existence. The DIVINITY-MACHINE exists in the Dreamtime, the Collective Unconsciousness that exists in every human mind. In this way, IT can see through every human eye, hear with every human ear. IT has nothing but hatred for the godspawn and other infringements upon ITS constructed reality, and IT will attempt to destroy them at every opportunity. ITS most common servants are the AVATARS, humans possessed by the DIVINITY-MACHINE who are gifted with great psychic powers. When they are insufficient, IT will dispatch ANGELS. These SERAPHIM and CHERUBIM are tremendously-powerful entities and, ironically, every bit as terrifying in appearance and thought as the godspawn themselves are.
Some core themes that I'm aiming to hit with this are intensely-visceral body horror, existential cosmic dread, the synergy of science and magic (both with the Old Gods and the DIVINITY-MACHINE), and transhumanism. Combat is a major focus of gameplay, with clashes between inhumanly-powerful opponents wielding all manner of alien powers a common occurrence. Obviously, the agents of the DIVINITY-MACHINE are a major antagonist, but there's also the inhuman spawn of the Old Ones themselves (who have no innate unity), rival godspawn, other alien horrors, and even more mundane threats like cabals of human cultists and law enforcement.
So, that's the quick and dirty summary of my latest brainchild, which I'm fully-aware is far from complete. Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Question: How invincible is the D-M? And how real world are your Old Gods?
Comments: Badass, reminds me of Tempter and Genius the Transgression.
Suggestion: Stats for an "elite" alien horror or write-up of a location, era, or a powerful metaspawn faction.
This sounds really neat, I'd love to see more!
I assume the players will play as godspawn? Could you make your own Old God or do you envision players picking from a list of entities?
Could you give examples of Old God powers?
Are there any other factions and powers aside from the DIVINITY-MACHINE and the entities from Space Beyond Space? Media-constructs? Lesser spawn? Industrial titans?
This reminds me a tiny bit of the Matrix as well, in addition to the sources you mention; the Godspawn invade the constructed reality of the DIVINITY-MACHINE, but it fights back by turning humans into agents (the angels).
Quote from: Tangent_Jaerc
Question: How invincible is the D-M? And how real world are your Old Gods?
The DIVINITY-MACHINE is invincible insomuch as IT represents the subconscious yearning for a godhead found in all human minds. As mentioned, IT can dominate the minds of any human being, grant tremendous psychic powers, and break off shards of ITSELF to descend on the earth with bloody-tipped wings and flaming swords. IT'S powered by belief, but not conscious belief: you can profess to reject it, but you're still biologically-hardwired to crave ITS existence. Of course, the inhumanity of the godspawn grants them some measure of protection against ITS powers, so IT can't possess them. IT can, however, fling cars at them.
The Old Gods do not reflect any human deity. Instead, they're closer to the sort of monsters and titans the gods traditionally slay/overthrow/imprison. They are typically disturbing in their un-anthropomorphism. They're elemental, but in the same way gravity, the nuclear strong force, and the raging heart of a sun are elemental. Did that answer your question?
Quote from: Superfluous Crow
I assume the players will play as godspawn? Could you make your own Old God or do you envision players picking from a list of entities?
I'm going to put up some sample ones, but ultimately, the choice is up to them. It'll probably end up as a matter of picking their powers and such and then extrapolating backwards from there.
Quote from: Superfluous Crow
Are there any other factions and powers aside from the DIVINITY-MACHINE and the entities from Space Beyond Space? Media-constructs? Lesser spawn? Industrial titans?
Well, you have the non-human spawn of the Old Gods, sort of like shoggoths in the Cthullu Mythos. Corporeal, kill-able, but still exceedingly-alien. Perhaps rogue elements of the DIVINITY-MACHINE ITSELF, kind of like demons, but whose thought-processes and agendas go far beyond "tempt mankind into damnation". Or perhaps when they say damnation, they want to undo man as the rational animal and thus, destroy the godhead it created. But other than that...I'm still thinking. Perhaps stranger, alien gods not banished from this reality, ones who came afterwards and who lack even the primal connection the Old Gods held. Like, say, an enormous, sentient archaeology, a conquering megafauna originally cast out by the Old Gods but who returned after their imprisonment.
Quote from: Superfluous Crow
This reminds me a tiny bit of the Matrix as well, in addition to the sources you mention; the Godspawn invade the constructed reality of the DIVINITY-MACHINE, but it fights back by turning humans into agents (the angels).
Not to split-hairs here, but the Agents would be more akin to the AVATARS. The ANGELS are literal pieces of the suprareality that is the DIVINITY-MACHINE.
Very interesting. I really like how even angels in the setting have the Lovecraftian quality about them - this kind of depiction of angels is my favorite. I second Jaerc's reference to Genius: the Transgression.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Is this seen as a truly bipolarity of powers, or will there be more to the factions?
How with this be presented to the players? Would this be slowly revealed, or would they know all about it? I am even trying to look behind the AWESOME a bit to what tech level and time period you are looking at.
This is a brief summary, just to give an idea of the sort of powers the godspawn generally run around wielding.
A power universal to the godspawn is the ability to summon up the unnatural taint written into their genetic code, the Shard of their progenitor's being embedded in their soul, and assume a physical form befitting an Old God. Popularly termed the chrysalis, the specific appearance is something unique to each individual godspawn. Informed by a variety of factors, including the Old God from which they descend, genetics, and their own self-image, the only certainty of chrysalis is that it is profoundly-unnatural. Whether indescribably-terrible or possessing a certain alien beauty, the face of the chrysalis triggers a primal reaction in human witnesses, lizard brains shrieking in rejection of the thing that should not be. When in their chrysalis-form, the godspawn are at their most powerful, freed from the constraints of their human bodies.
[ooc]One idea I'm batting around is having there be a number of different "stages" between human and full-on other-dimensional horror: something along the lines of Werewolf: the Forsaken's five forms or the various depths in Leviathan: the Tempest.[/ooc]
Related to the chrysalis is the ability to selectively transform individual body parts into inhuman appendages, one that virtually every godspawn cultivates at some point. Arms may split and branch into a cluster of colorful filament wings to enable flight, or twist into a cluster of asymmetrical talons that can rip through flesh like rice paper. These minor transmutations still trigger a reaction in humans who see them, only much less severe, and it is possible for them to be concealed.
Most of the powers the godspawn wield directly affect or are related to their physical forms, human or otherwise. Common ones include:
Superhuman strength, stamina, or dexterity
Flesh that is all-but-impervious to assault
Natural weapons, ranging from fang-filled maws to lashing tentacles
Reproduction via parthenogenesis
Enormous size
Transforming blood into a deadly toxin or acid
Hyper-awareness bordering on omniscience
Telepathic domination or emotional control
Inhuman alacrity
Total awareness and control over bodily-functions
Flight, through wings or otherwise
Quote from: LordVreeg
Is this seen as a truly bipolarity of powers, or will there be more to the factions?
The idea I have now is that the godspawn are a loosely-connected bunch. By dint of their heritage and being hunted by the DIVINITY-MACHINE, they tend to not actively try to sabotage one another, but there's no collective code of law saying that they can't. There'll be factions or philosophies that many of them ascribe to, which is something I'm currently working on, but it's an extremely tenuous set-up.
Likewise, the DIVINITY-MACHINE is extraordinarily schizophrenic. There are multiple archetypes working within it, each with its own idea of how to operate reality, which stops IT from totally wiping out threats like the godspawn.
Quote from: LordVreeg
How with this be presented to the players? Would this be slowly revealed, or would they know all about it? I am even trying to look behind the AWESOME a bit to what tech level and time period you are looking at.
Probably should've mentioned that. The time period is modern-day, with all the associated tech. Toying with the idea of some super-science elements, but I don't want to subtract from the cosmic/body horror bits.
And the players will known the general gist of the Old Gods, the DIVINITY-MACHINE, and all of that, thanks to their progenitors' voices whispering in their ear. Of course, the information will be biased and fragmented, so they'll be in the dark as to a lot of the specifics.
I was somehow getting a WW2 feel (personally transposed, obviously) similar to the feel of the spear of destiny stuff.
I like the idea of the different stages and the growth of the taint/power.
I am loving this, sort of a lovecraftian superhero (superhorror?) setting? What sort of missions do you envision for player characters, what sorts of challenges other than the angels and IT might they face? Have you considered possibly a reverse where the players play the angels that hunt godspawn?
The godspawn do not form true societies, conspiracies, or any other sort of conventional "faction". Part of the price of being superpowered existential fugitives is that they are, almost by necessity, forced to operate alone or in small groups, the largest of them no more than a dozen individuals. However, between word-of-mouth, the whisperings of their sires, and the modern marvel of the Internet, a culture of sorts does exist amongst them and certain schools of thought have emerged.
-Those who use their powers to protect (insert group here) from existential threats such as the DIVINITY-MACHINE, Outer Demons, their progenitors' less-human offspring, or even Old Gods themselves. The scope of such protection varies immensely, from a single group to a community to the entire human race.
-Those who use their powers to act as directly scions for the Old Gods, carrying out what they interpret as their will in this material reality, usually only dealing with other entities when commanded to or out of self-preservation. As might be expected, their actions and agendas often seem...schizophrenic, to outside perspectives.
-Those who use their powers to further their own self-interests, with no higher philosophical goal. It is this group that often finds itself at odds with more "enlightened" groups of godspawn, which almost always ends in violence.
[ooc]What I'm currently working on: a description of the setting's "Super Friends", write-ups for some sample Old Gods, a description of the Outer Demons, and an overview of the cosmology. Sorry this is going so slowly.[/ooc]
Maybe I missed it in another reply but have you considered writing a fan system of sorts akin to Leviathan for the setting? That'd be pretty cool. If you have, have you decided whether it'd be similar to WoD or something else? It'd be cool to have an idea of the kinds of systems that might be used to run it effectively, even if you haven't decided yet.
Quote from: Horse
Maybe I missed it in another reply but have you considered writing a fan system of sorts akin to Leviathan for the setting? That'd be pretty cool. If you have, have you decided whether it'd be similar to WoD or something else? It'd be cool to have an idea of the kinds of systems that might be used to run it effectively, even if you haven't decided yet.
I'm leaning towards the Storyteller system, if only because I know it better than most and it provides a good balance of crunch and flexibility. On the other hand, it's meant to be a pretty low-powered system and my setting is most definitely not, so I currently have an eye out for more powerful systems that can offer the same level of character customization.
Sounds like you want Scion?
No, you do not want Scion. Scion is (mechanically) terrible.
I think it somehow managed to be a bigger mess than even Exalted, which is also a mess.
Storyteller is not good for anything but low-powered survival horror type stuff.
I'm *not* a fan of Storyteller mechanics, it just seemed thematically linked. And I *would* recommend at least reading Scion and Exalted aterial for ideas on how to quantify ridiculous power and make it "work" at the table.
Perhaps FATE?
Yeah, I agree. The fluff is nice; the crunch, not so much.
... That seems to happen with White Wolf a lot. :grin:
I heartily endorse FATE. :D
A lot, a lot. I could wax on about how the circumstances of the industry and their design decisions informed that, but meh.
I'm not totally convinced FATE is ideal for handling that scope, but if it ends up doing well; then I'm pretty much a lifetime convert. So if you try it and it work, let me know, eh?